A Bethlehem tour guide told the tourist that Mary and Joseph normally would have stayed with relatives in Bethlehem. Because of the circumstances of Mary's pregnancy, they were not welcomed by their own relatives.

The Father gave His Son; He dwelt among us full of grace and truth. You, the old man, was crucified with the Son, so that the old man—the power of sin—would be taken out of the way. You, the new man, was raised to new life indwelt by the Son. This is the greatest exchange of Christmas.

There couldn’t be a change of behavior until there was a change of identity. We were born sinners and sinners sin. In fact, they are slaves to sin. Sinners who clean up their sins, still only have “filthy rags”.

The problem is in our concept of God. You see, you become like the god you believe in. Sadly, the voice of condemnation that you hear in your heart is neither the voice of the devil nor the voice of God; it is the voice of self-criticism. Religion has taught you that it was the voice of God, it is not.

I am sure you all know the saying, “Spring Forward, Fall Back”, and as we move from casual, summer fun and relaxation into the scheduled season of Fall activities it brings to mind the idea of falling back into routine, mundane schedules of life.